We have detected that cookies are not enabled on your browser. Please enable cookies to ensure the proper experience.
Warning: JavaScript is required for some functionalities of this page. Please enable the use of JavaScript in your browser. Log In
Register My Account
Log Out (%1$s)

We have detected that cookies are not enabled on your browser. Please enable cookies to ensure the proper experience.

Warning: JavaScript is required for some functionalities of this page. Please enable the use of JavaScript in your browser.

Want to know what would be really cool? What if Sapience started a thread that was intended for players to ask questions and for developers to answer them? And what if when a player asks a question other players wouldn't act like trolls and fill up page after page with snarky back-and-forth diatribes? Wouldn't that be cool?

Oh, wait, was that the original purpose of this thread? I see maybe a half dozen actual questions but I'm not seeing blue name answers, so I guess the developers have better things to do than read through all the editorial content in between.

C'mon guys, there are other threads for you to gloat about how easy everything is for you or how many players it takes to do Draigoch. This is supposed to be "Ask The LOTRO Team", where we, the players, ask a question and they, the developers, answer the questions. Post your opinions about how much smarter you are than the average bear on Facebook next to the picture of your lunch you took with your cell phone. Let this thread serve the purpose originally intended.

Oh, wait, was that the original purpose of this thread? I see maybe a half dozen actual questions but I'm not seeing blue name answers, so I guess the developers have better things to do than read through all the editorial content in between.

Actually, no it's not. The original point of this thread was to post the replies to questions asked in the call for questions thread (it's right below this thread). They were categorized and answered by the devs and then posted as 42 answers to the questions asked. When we post a new thread asking for questions we'll close this one then pull the questions asked in the new thread and have the team answer them. Then we'll close that thread and post a new thread with the answers to the questions asked.

This way you can always look ONE POST for the questions and answers from the team. This forum was added to make sure there is one place where all of these types of Q&As exist for easy reference. Threads that ask you to submit questions have a ? icon. Threads that provide the answers have an ! icon.

Q2: Which areas are being revamped for update 13?
A: [Budgeford] - We're hitting the North Downs, Trollshaws, and Misty Mountains with Update 13. North Downs has a lot of content already, and it's a great zone, but the quest flow and level range definitely need some love. Misty Mountains and Trollshaws are beautiful zones, but the quests are sparse and often difficult to find. We're hoping to address all of these issues during the revamps.

That is such welcome news, especially if it's done as well as the Moria revamp. I have a few lower level alts about to go to those zones and now I feel like it would be worth waiting for the revamps. Any ballpark idea of when update 13 will be happening ?

It is expected to hit Bullroarer (the public test server) some time next week. After some amount of testing (perhaps a few weeks) it will then be released. This fits in with the original estimate of some weeks ago that Sapience gave, suggesting U13 would likely come at the end of March. Additionally, the Anniversary is in April, and when U13 is talked about, the Anniversary is often part of the conversation. In order for it to hold true, U13 would have to arrive before or around the Anniversary event.

It is expected to hit Bullroarer (the public test server) some time next week. After some amount of testing (perhaps a few weeks) it will then be released. This fits in with the original estimate of some weeks ago that Sapience gave, suggesting U13 would likely come at the end of March. Additionally, the Anniversary is in April, and when U13 is talked about, the Anniversary is often part of the conversation. In order for it to hold true, U13 would have to arrive before or around the Anniversary event.

It is expected to hit Bullroarer (the public test server) some time next week. After some amount of testing (perhaps a few weeks) it will then be released. This fits in with the original estimate of some weeks ago that Sapience gave, suggesting U13 would likely come at the end of March. Additionally, the Anniversary is in April, and when U13 is talked about, the Anniversary is often part of the conversation. In order for it to hold true, U13 would have to arrive before or around the Anniversary event.

From my experience, updates like this get roughly 7 to 10 days of time on Bullroarer, barring a disaster. Of course, U13 might get more time than that, but if it props next week (Monday's the 10th) and the go-live is the end of the month (three weeks from Monday at the latest), then at most you'll have is two weeks on BR. BR closes a few days to a week before the go-live date.

"No sadder words of tongue or pen are the words: 'Might have been'." -- John Greenleaf Whittier
"Do or do not. There is no try." -- Yoda
On planet Earth, there is a try.
Indeed, in a world and life full of change, the only constant is human nature (A is A, after all :P).
We old vets need to keep in mind those who come after us.

Reactions & follow-up questions

- Q2: Yay! The Trollshaws definitely needs the revamp, this much I know. I hope that Volume I, Book 4 is getting redone, too, and that swift travel is added between the in-region stable-masters. I like the Esteldin-based North Downs (except for the limited and highly-leveled rewards for Rangers of Esteldin), but I've never felt motivated to play the Trestlebridge-based content. The Misty Mountains are beautiful, but I find that the quests often require traveling long distances without much aid from stable-masters. Two stables in the entire region seems quite sparse.
- Q13, 15: I really like the idea of some kind of optional character scaling. I understand that additional skills and trait points are hard to balance for, but I'd really like to see a way to experience currently non-scaling instances as they were originally intended. Running most Moria dungeons, for example, seems just too easy when you have grossly overleveled characters in your group, but often it's the only way people run them. I'd also like to see some rewards that are relevant to different character levels to motivate people to run older instances (especially the Angmar ones that don't include IXP runes and relics).
- Q24: Yes, please. I recently remembering having to purge some of my friends because the list was full.
- Q28: Just seeing what line(s) a character specializes in would probably be sufficient; the number of trait points spent in each line could be nice, too. Example: Specs blue; 31 traits in blue, 6 in red, 11 in yellow. Red spec also available. (Not in so many words, but that information is probably what people are looking for.)
- Q30: This is something I'd like, too. Unless I'm mistaken, wardens were originally restricted to Race of Man, elves, and hobbits because the dwarf animations would have been too much work.
- Q31: Don't forget the skill icons. While the new skill icons are all square, the old ones have rounded corners, creating visual inconsistency. When designing icons, please pick one style and stay consistent, thanks.

New stuff:
- I really don't like the wall of blue text whenever I change specialization presets; I doubt anyone reads it, and it drowns out more relevant chat messages. Any way you guys could cut all that down to something simple?
- Speaking of specializations, redoing a trait line seems overly expensive, and the money is vanishing into thin air instead of going into an NPC's pocket.
- A way to unlock a third saved specialization for one's entire account would be quite welcome, indeed. There are plenty of trait lines I would like to try without trashing my existing builds, and 100 MC per character is a bit tough to stomach for players with lots of characters.
- Minstrel legendary axes: Although dwarf minstrels are able to use axes, there aren't any legendary minstrel axes, making dwarves' bonus weapon damage useless. While almost all classes can use 1-handed clubs and swords (validating hobbit, man, and elf racial weapons), axes are a little more class-restricted, and dwarf minstrels are left out of their brethren's axe-swinging glory once they get their legendary items. Even if minstrels' legendary axes are only available through bartering and/or crafting, it would still be an improvement IMO. (I understand that minstrels aren't melee classes, but it still bothers me.)
- Quest items: I really don't like quest items filling up my bag space. With the inventory changes, is anything being done to address this? I know some games put quest items in their own, separate bag that doesn't interfere with normal bag space; I certainly prefer this method to the one currently in LOTRO.

So why are Westemnet emeralds red instead of green? Seems a bit obvious that they should be green. The only green stone we have so far is the green garnet. Did we really need another red stone?

Red emeralds exist in the real world and are very rare. Still, I expect the Tier 9 icons to eventually be updated to their proper versions and leave the Tier 8 placeholders behind. We shall see. That reminds me, I need to look at them on Bullroarer. I have not checked it out to see if there have been any crafting changes.

"No sadder words of tongue or pen are the words: 'Might have been'." -- John Greenleaf Whittier
"Do or do not. There is no try." -- Yoda
On planet Earth, there is a try.
Indeed, in a world and life full of change, the only constant is human nature (A is A, after all :P).
We old vets need to keep in mind those who come after us.

Im not sure if Im posting this in the correct thread, but does anyone know the dates to the 2014 spring festival and the 2014 summer festival?

I looked a good ways out on the calendar and they are not listed, I didn't see the farmer's faire either. Hopefully that means something special or new is in the works? PC GO FOR IT!

Whoever says “I” creates the “you.” Such is the trap of every conscience. The “I” signifies both solitude and rejection of solitude. Words name things and then replace them. Whoever says tomorrow, denies it. Tomorrow exists only for him who does not seek it. And yesterday? Yesterday is Kolvillàg: a name to forget, a word already forgotten.